


Illness

by VidalsQueen



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Flu, Fluff, Sick Character, taking care of shepard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22684801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VidalsQueen/pseuds/VidalsQueen
Summary: Okay, so this is what happens when you have the flu and can't think of anything other than... well... having the flu. LOLJames takes care of Altea.
Relationships: Altea Shepard/James Vega, Female Shepard/James Vega
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Illness

Altea sat forward on her bed, bringing her knees up to rub her forehead against them. This was a headache and nothing more. She chose to ignore the pressure building in her sinuses, the slight tickle at the back of her throat. It was nothing, she’d been running herself ragged training with Vega. She just needed some water and maybe some soup. 

She threw her legs over the side of the bed, only to realize the swift movement was not what her body needed at all. It took her a moment to right herself as dizziness spread from her head, down through her limbs. She rolled her head, meaning to stretch out her neck but when it simply lolled side to side, she cracked her eyes open as she stood. 

She was _not_ sick.

Deciding she’d rather go through her morning routine, she put on a pot of coffee and made her way to the bathroom. She always waited until after her training sessions to shower but she wanted to wash her face and rebraid her hair. She’d accidentally fallen asleep with the braid still intact and knew rebraiding it would prove difficult but it was better than the hot mess that currently crowned her head. 

She turned the water on hot, letting the steam rise in the basin before she dipped her head down to breathe in the steam. A shower was better for this, but it had the same effect in waking her senses. As she took her first deep inhale, she tried to hold back the cough that tried to rise in her throat. 

_ Shit. _

Her first glimpse in the mirror should have been the only proof she needed to give up this ruse but she didn’t want to acknowledge that her cheeks were too pink, her sinuses swollen, giving her face a more rounded structure than was normal. No. She wanted to be able to leave this room. She needed the workout. She was not going to allow herself to get soft. And the last thing she needed was Vega taking on the role of caregiver. 

So, she did what anyone would do in her situation. She put on a little makeup to hide the redness and popped a few ibuprofen to mask the swelling. Then, she put on the leggings and sports bra she always wore to the gym. She poured herself some coffee and curled up on the couch to await Vega’s presence.

The second sign that should have told her she was genuinely sick came next. She brought the steaming mug to her lips inhaling the beautiful aroma of her morning jonesing. Usually, this moment led to a few more moments of complete ecstasy but as the first hint slid over her tongue, it was revolting. She looked at the mug as if it had somehow betrayed her. Was it dirty? Had her milk soured? Did she not put coffee into the coffee pot?

Confused, she abandoned the mug and began checking all items in question. The milk was fine. The coffee was her favorite. She even went as far as to pull the different pieces of the coffee maker apart to make sure they were clean. Sure enough, everything was fine. 

As she was reassembling the coffee maker, her door gave the light beep that heralded Vega’s entrance. She turned to him then, happy to see that he had brought her a treat. He’d learned as early as their second meeting that she preferred savory foods to sweet and in his hand was the most glorious looking souffle. 

“Stopped by the local bakery this morning. Figured I’d bring you something better than prison food.” He smiled warmly and went to set the rest of his findings, and Altea assumed what was probably his breakfast, on the small coffee table. 

Spotting her still full coffee mug, James turned to face her. “You didn’t just wake up, did you?”

Altea laughed, but it was fake. She tried to turn it into a joking laugh but then ended on a groan. Her brain just couldn’t keep up the ruse. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she just wasn’t feeling well. 

She settled in on the couch and picked up her mug, trying her best not to grimace as she took another sip. Why did it taste so bad? This was a betrayal she couldn’t handle. She set the mug back down and held her hands out to James. He placed the pastry-wrapped souffle in her palm and she took another deep inhale. It smelled delicious. She side-eyed the coffee mug. It had smelled delicious, too. 

Gingerly, she bit into the pastry. To her delight, it wasn’t bad at all. But then she took a larger bite and that was the end of that. She spat the barely chewed bite back into her palm gesturing for a napkin. “What was that?”

James looked confused. “It’s bacon and artichoke.”

“Oh,” Altea nearly whispered, saddened once more that another of her favorite things was ruined this morning. She had always liked the sour, almost bitter flavor of artichokes but it seemed that anything sour or bitter was hell-bent on betraying her today.

She sat the souffle down next to her abandoned coffee and the furrow in James’s brow deepened. “What is wrong with you? You sick?” 

The words were stated jokingly but Altea stood with her arms crossed over her chest. “I am not sick.”

Her adamance lost her any footing she may have had as James rose to his feet, placing a hand on her forehead. She swatted it away.

“Shepard, you’re sick.” James mimicked her stance. His eyes bore into hers and his lips pursed. 

“Am not.” She turned away from him. It would do her no good if he could see the lie written across her face. 

His hand on her arm turned her around. “Lola, it’s okay to be sick. People get sick all the time. Plus, it’s good to know you’re human like the rest of us and not a machine.”

Altea was almost offended. Of course, she was human. Just because she’d had a few cybernetic enhancements didn’t mean she was no longer a person. So, she could lift more than she could before. And, so what if her reflexes were just a little quicker? But, at his grin, she realized that wasn’t what he had meant at all. He was just messing with her.

“Do some people really think I am a machine?” She didn’t know what made her ask but she’d had similar thoughts when she’d realized that her body could now outperform anything she’d done before Cerberus decided to put her back together. 

“Maybe but what does it matter? I’ve seen you bleed. I know that you’re as human as the rest of us.” And he had. One day during their training, she’d accidentally misjudged a kick from Vega and his heel had connected with her lip. It wasn’t enough to break the skin on the outside but it didn’t stop her teeth from tearing up the inside of her lip.

Her hand lifted to her now healed lower lip, rubbing the area as she thought about that for a moment. 

And then the final betrayal of her body occurred. She let out a hearty sneeze, coating her hand in snot and spittle. It was gross but that was not the response she got from James. Instead of him backing up from her and her now disgusting hand, he took her by the shoulders and guided her to the bathroom to wash up. 

“I think I am going to take my breakfast to my office but I’ll be back. You rest, drink some water and I’ll get you some medicine and some soup.”

______________________________

By the time Vega returned, Altea felt like shit. It seemed that the more she tried to fight it, the worse it got. She’d been coughing, hacking and blowing her nose for what seemed like hours. Her nose was sore, as was her throat. Her body ached and every time she sneezed, it was so powerful she was afraid she’d pee herself. 

“Damn, Altea. You okay?” James came to her bedside, pulling up the lone chair in the room.

“Beachy.” That wasn’t what she had meant to say, but it made James laugh. It seemed that saying ‘peachy’ was too much to ask for.

“And if I asked you what you call Hannah Shepard, you’d give me your hamster’s name instead?” 

“Fuck off,” That came out well enough.

He leaned forward, his arm outstretched to touch her forehead. “I’m just messing with you. Lighten up, Lola.” He frowned as his hand went from her forehead to her cheek.

“Prognosis doc?” She sneered at him. She didn't like this. He didn't need to be tending to her as if she were a child.

James lifted his omnitool to examine her body. It was something she could have done, if she had extranet access or if she didn’t mind tipping off James that her connection to EDI was still intact but she didn’t want to risk her one link to the outside world.

“It seems, Commander, that you have the flu.” He shut down his omnitool and edged his chair back slightly. 

In all these centuries, you would have thought the flu and the common cold would be nonexistent but, no. It was just easier to treat. “The flu? But I’ve been locked in this cell. How the hell did I get the flu?”

“Probably me.” When she glared at him, he held his hands up in a hold on a second, gesture. “You’ve always gotten a flu shot at your yearly exams. Yet, you’ve missed the last three exams. Stands to reason that since I’ve had mine, I could carry without contracting it and unknowingly bring it in here.”

“Oh, okay. Well, you suck.” She pouted hard. If she could think clearly, that would have been the obvious answer but having James say it made her feel stupid. It wasn’t that the Lieutenant wasn’t smart, it was just that she shouldn’t need to be told how you get the flu.

“Oh, do I?” He held up the syringe that would be her salvation. “Well, I guess that means…”

“No, no. James, my angel. My beautiful beefcake. Please, give me the drugs.” She gripped his arm weakly as he tried to pull away. “Please, I’ll do anything.”

He turned back to her, his eyebrow raised. “Anything, Lola?”

She gritted her teeth. “Within reason.”

A devious grin shifted over his lips. “Careful what you say, Commander.”

He brought the needle back to her arm and injected the healing liquid. It wouldn’t take long for her symptoms to subside but James did something unexpected. He pulled down the blankets and told her to lay on her stomach. “The ache settles into the joints.” He said by way of explanation. 

Altea lay in complete contentment as James worked his hands over the worst of the pains, starting at her shoulders and neck, then down her arms and then down to her hips. If Altea were able to do anything other than lay there and accept his treatment of her body, she was sure she’d be feeling much more than relief at his touch. He was so strong and his hands so sure that she knew he’d had practice at this. And she could see that he was having an equal response to her appreciative moans but this wasn’t the place or the time to address any of that and as the relief settled in so did the need for sleep.

  
  



End file.
